


Apologies. New phone. Who is this?

by IDoNotBiteMyThumbAtYou



Category: Pacific Rim
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 13:05:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16096271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IDoNotBiteMyThumbAtYou/pseuds/IDoNotBiteMyThumbAtYou
Summary: Or: the pettiest thing the Precursors ever did.A year after his departure, Hermann receives a text message from Newton for seemingly no reason.





	Apologies. New phone. Who is this?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sarah1281](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarah1281/gifts).



> Based on a tumblr ask from Sarah1281

The first text came exactly 10 minutes into Hermann’s strictly self-imposed dinner time.

> Hey.

It was from an unknown (blocked) number. So Hermann ignored it. Five minutes later he received a second text message.

> How are you? I’ve been  
>  thinking about you a lot.

Well clearly this person had the wrong phone number. Hermann couldn’t think of anyone in his life who would reach out unprovoked just to say they were thinking of him. He ignored this text as well. Two minutes later:

> Hey I know you’re having dinner,  
>  so you’re definitely getting these.

Troubling. He thought he’d better respond. Because either someone was literally watching him right now, or he was being rude to a friend who knew him well enough to know his eating schedule. 

> Apologies. New phone.  
>           Who is this?
> 
> Oh right I got a new phone too.  
>  You probably don’t have my new number
> 
> lol

_“lol?”_ Who……. A possibility floated to the forefront of his mind. But… Surely not. After all this time.

> Is this Newton Geiszler?
> 
> I don’t know…
> 
> Is it?
> 
> Who else would you guess?
> 
> Now I know it’s you, Geiszler.  
>  No one else would turn this into  
>  a childish guessing game.

Thinking that would be the end of it, Hermann put his phone down with a huff (a huff that induced a strange, momentary nostalgia) and got back to his grains and vegetables. A minute later his phone pinged again.

> Well whoever I am, the question  
>  still stands: How are you?
> 
> I’ve been thinking about you.
> 
> A lot.
> 
> That part’s true too.  
>  Whoever’s texting you.

What on earth…?

> I’m well.
> 
> Though a bit confused at this exact  
>  moment. Why are you texting me  
>  now, out of the blue Geiszler?
> 
> I dunno.
> 
> I’m sitting here in a dressing room  
>  getting ready to go on TV. Thinking  
>  about the old days because they  
>  ALWAYS ask about the old days.  
>  So I thought “I should just text him.”  
>  And then I thought “no way, he does  
>  NOT want to hear from me rn”
> 
> Or like ever.
> 
> But then I thought maybe he’d like  
>  to know that he’s been on my mind.
> 
> But then I thought no he’d hate that.
> 
> And I went back and forth.
> 
> I even asked the makeup girl.
> 
> My goodness. How taxing for you.
> 
> Yeah well.
> 
> After some serious migraine-  
>  inducing internal battles I decided  
>  fuck it I’m texting him.
> 
> Which bring us to now.
> 
> Because.
> 
> You know.

There was a long pause. As though Newton was genuinely expecting him to “know” something. Hermann’s allotted dinner time was nearly up and he was getting impatient with this little runaround.

> I really don’t.

The response came almost instantaneously:

> I miss you.

Hermann’s blood ran cold. No. No. No. He was not doing this. He was not falling for this. He squared his shoulders and typed a response.

> And here I thought you were  
>  so bored by our collaboration  
> that you were forced to leave to prevent gouging your  
>  own eyes out from of sheer ennui.

There. Hopefully that was sufficient to put him in his place.

> Yeeeeaaaah. I did say  
>  something like that huh?

Hermann couldn’t be bothered to dignify that flippancy with a response. Newton continued on his own.

> It was a weird time.
> 
> Was and… continues  
>  to be a weird time.
> 
> I’m sorry. Really.

Hermann looked up around the cafeteria to ensure that the little drama playing out on his phone was not as massively obtrusive as it felt. “I’m sorry” were the only words he had wanted to hear from him in the last year. And the words that he seemed least likely to hear from the man. Now that he was finally getting what he wanted, Hermann was overwhelmed by the suspicion that he was in some way being had.

> Is this really you, Newt?

The typing indication bounced on Hermann’s screen for a solid three minutes. Sometimes disappearing for a few seconds, but always coming back. Those little dots endlessly jaunty and maddeningly mysterious. Hermann couldn’t imagine how such a straightforward question could possibly warrant a text novel.  
Hermann was just about to give up when the text came through:

> Yeah.

Hermann sighed.

> Alright.
> 
> You don’t believe me.
> 
> Not entirely.
> 
> [[Picture]](https://78.media.tumblr.com/883206359666dcb378b0a0540c13e844/tumblr_pfm9daLOoe1xxpw6so1_400.jpg)
> 
> Believe me now?

Hermann clapped the phone facedown on the table. Damn him. In spite of himself he felt his face going hot. Had time really dulled his memory that much? Softened the angles of Newton’s teasing half smile and knowing eyes. It had only been a year since they’d spoken, and he’d seen the man on television (and taken a curious peep at his various social media accounts once or twice. He wasn’t proud of this). Why then should one photo move him thus? As soon as he formulated the question in his mind, he knew the answer: because it was meant for him. Those eyes weren’t just looking into the camera, they were looking at him on purpose. And when they seemed to know him, it wasn’t a trick of angle or the lighting, it was because Newt really did Know him. And with that expression it looked a lot like he wanted to… know him again. And here it was affecting him like an idiot schoolboy. He shook his head to clear away some of the haze.  
He had to respond. Newt would be expecting a response.

> You could have gotten that  
>  from his social media.
> 
> Bahahahaha!!!
> 
> You’re killin me Herm.
> 
> Ok! I gotta go on. Chat later?

Hermann didn’t respond. But he did find a livestream of Newt’s interview. He comported himself well, but more importantly, he was wearing the jacket and distinctive shoes from the picture.

So it was from today. And he most certainly had been talking to Newt. His heart beat a little faster despite all common sense. How irritating that as the first person ever to claim his affections - 2013, Herman had all but sent him his heart in the mail with a four page letter and a £1.25 stamp - Newt had a direct line to the unfiltered emotional responses of his youth. He felt like he was 24 again, running out to the mailbox to check for a letter. Ridiculous.

All the same, he kept his phone in his pocket when he went back to work. Just in case.  
When it did buzz, he nearly dropped it down the ladder in his haste to view the message.

> Check out this lens flare!!  
>  ;) ;) ;)
> 
> [[Picture]](https://78.media.tumblr.com/147fd1b50188d28d488ef78c6c625323/tumblr_pfm9daLOoe1xxpw6so2_1280.jpg)

Oh. Oh goodness that was. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. His tattoos were nearly washed out in the garish light, and for some reason he was wearing sunglasses indoors. And he definitely wasn’t wearing a shirt.

That was certainly a speedy escalation, but not at all out of character for Newt given their previous relationship. Was this Newt’s way of instigating momentum to move towards something of what they had let go a year ago? Should Hermann respond in kind?

Surely he shouldn’t expect any long term plans on Newt’s part. It was still entirely possible that Newt had no intention to ever pick up where they left off and was just flirting to be cheeky. Either way, even Hermann wasn’t so emotionally blind as to mistake a shirtless picture for anything other than a flirt.

He decided to hedge his bets and flirt back only enough to allow himself some plausible deniability:

> You’ll excuse me, but I’m  
>  having difficulty focusing on  
>  the lens flare given the  
>  shameless display in front of it.

Hermann wondered momentarily if he should add a smiling emoji. He decided against it.

> Well done on your  
>  interview, by the way.

> Oh my god Hermann.
> 
> I’m so sorry.

Hermann’s stomach turned to stone. He didn’t dare touch the keyboard lest he accidentally type something else incriminating, and he could only watch helplessly as the worst possible words filled his phone screen.

> I’m so so so sorry.
> 
> That wasn’t for you.
> 
> I mean it’s fine that you  
>  saw it.
> 
> But it was meant for someone  
>  Else.
> 
> It’s just I kind of instinctively sent  
>  it to the conversation at the  
>  top of the app and I forgot that  
>  you were the last person I messaged.
> 
> I mean I didn’t forget
> 
> Not to worry, Geiszler.
> 
> I just wasn’t thinking about it right then.
> 
> I had suspected as much.
> 
> Have a pleasant evening.
> 
> I’m so sorry.
> 
> Surely there’s nothing else to say.
> 
>  

And Newt must have agreed. Because he didn’t say anything at all. Hermann put the phone back in his pocket, and though he wasn’t waiting for it, it didn’t buzz again for the rest of the night. He should have known, he told himself. He’d given up hope months ago. Packed it up in boxes like the ones containing the Kaiju figurines Newt had never returned to collect. Still this seemed unnecessarily cruel. He’d been coerced to open those boxes, and now the mess had spilled out and he was left to sort it and seal it away, all over again.

Within a few days the conversation was buried on his phone. But he didn’t delete it. And though he tried, he didn’t forget it. In fact, he would sometimes scroll backwards through time, through the conversations that had piled on top and pull it up again. And though he admonished himself every time, he occasionally couldn’t resist opening up and studying those pictures of Newt. It was fascinating to see him: audacious, and beautiful, and not quite like himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I linked to the pictures rather than embedding them because I felt weird about using an actor's personal pictures - even if he is obviously in character in them.  
> I hope you enjoyed this! Drop me a line if you did!


End file.
